We Will See The 'Mad Max: Fury Road' Black-And-White Version On A Future Blu-Ray Release
Will George Miller make another Mad Max sequel? What will it be called? When will it happen? This Mad Max story has nothing to do with all of that hoopla. Instead, we're talking about the black-and-white version of Mad Max: Fury Road we didn't see on last year's Blu-Ray release for our favorite film of 2015.
After the jump, Miller gives an update on the Mad Max: Fury Road black-and-white Blu-ray release.
Mad Max: Fury Road is pure, nutritious eye candy. While most post-apocalyptic movies are drained of color, Miller's action picture is full of it. The desert is vast and bright, and the characters and destruction truly pop in the shining landscapes. A black-and-white version, with only the score playing, sounds like an experience just as satisfying. Fury Road is such a visceral movie, driven by action and movement, that you'd get a sense of what's happening based purely on the images, so it makes sense Miller wants us to see that version of the film.
Speaking with the LA Times, Miller told them, in addition to a commentary and more features, we'll see the black-and-white cut on the next Mad Max: Fury Road Blu-ray release.
The best version of 'Fury Road' was what we called a 'slash dupe': a cheap, black-and-white version of the movie for the composer. Something about it seemed more authentic and elemental. So I asked Eric Whipp, the ['Fury Road'] colorist, 'can I see some scenes in black and white with quite a bit of contrast?' They looked great. So I said to the guys at Warners, 'can we put a black-and-white version on the DVD?' There wasn't enough room. [It'll end up] on another version with commentary and other features.
When will we see this version? Miller doesn't say, but this double-dip is worth the wait. Now, if they put this black-and-white version in theaters, that would also be a real treat. Miller wants to "go all the way out" and show people his preferred version of the film:
We spent a lot of time in DI (digital intermediate), and we had a very fine colorist, Eric Whipp. One thing I've noticed is that the default position for everyone is to de-saturate post-apocalyptic movies. There's only two ways to go, make them black and white — the best version of this movie is black and white, but people reserve that for art movies now. The other version is to really go all-out on the color. The usual teal and orange thing? That's all the colors we had to work with. The desert's orange and the sky is teal, and we either could de-saturate it, or crank it up, to differentiate the movie. Plus, it can get really tiring watching this dull, de-saturated color, unless you go all the way out and make it black and white.
Would Warner Bros. consider releasing the black-and-white version of Mad Max: Fury Road in theaters? Fans, especially the ones that made multiple trips to the theaters this past summer, would most likely jump at the chance of experiencing this cut in the cinema.